It is clear from all the conversations I have had with clubs in the second part of 2020 that the biggest issue facing the industry is getting members back. Many memberships are still frozen or suspended, and lots have cancelled. Furthermore, some members are still paying yet not visiting, and consequently are at high risk of cancelling.
Some industry research reports that most members will return (up to 88%). But the reality is that many have not yet. It is hard to remove bias from fitness surveys when they are mostly completed by the keen, raving fans of your facility. As clubs dip in and out of lockdown, member recovery is going to become a full-time, constant battle. Whilst it will feel like a battle, it is easier to re-engage your existing members than to find new ones.
To get more of your members back, you need to be smart and to work hard at it. You also need to have lower price options and accept that having lesser member revenue is better than nothing.
Recovery Campaigns
Start by being clear on the purpose of your recovery campaigns. Are you contacting dormant members to get them to resume their membership, or trying to re-engage cancelled members? While your ultimate goal is no doubt to resume or re-start a membership, do you have other aims, such as getting feedback, having a conversation or simply maintaining engagement?
Content and Call to Action
Once you have defined goals, you need to work on your campaign content. Depending on the channels you use, this should be consistent and tailored. You can use similar content in a letter or email, but need to condense for SMS or postcards. Phone calls scripts can help to ensure you get your key messages across, and record standard information for each call or caller.
Focus on the member, rather than the club. Be curious about what they have been up to and try to find out about their current needs. Rather than talk about the club, describe how other members (like them) are finding the return, how they are confident and reassured by the new cleaning procedures.
If you have new online/remote membership options, tell the story of members who have switched, and the results that they are getting.
And finally, ensure you have a call to action (or two). A simple reply to the message, link/button to click, or quick survey to complete. If members can resume or rejoin with a click, some will, which reduces your need to follow-up…
Follow-up
Regardless of how many click your link above, there will still be a need to follow-up. Not just with those who don’t open/click/respond, but even with those who do. It takes seven interactions on average to make a sale, and can be the same to re-engage a member. One email is not going to be enough for most members, you will need at least two or three different communications.
Your strategy needs to include multiple follow-ups on different channels. A phone call is the best option most of the time, however, it is resource intensive. So, the other purpose of the initial campaign is to reduce the number of calls to make, and to prioritise them.
Measure the Outcomes
Just as you measure your member’s results (you do, don’t you?), you need to measure the outcomes of these recovery campaigns. Sure, there is the return/rejoin rate, but you also have engagement metrics like open/click rate, and other indicators which pave the path to re-joining. You should assess which staff member made the most successful calls, or learnt the most about your members?
Recording feedback from members and ex-members can be enlightening, but it is also important to develop new offerings or overcome future objections.
You are unlikely to get all members to re-join from one campaign. If you have a high level of engagement, you will have more winners next time around, particularly if you learn and adapt. If you don’t measure the successes and failures, you’re unlikely to improve.
Membership Options
Having a couple of different options for your members to choose is a good idea. Offering an alternative between an online/app membership or full membership is much better than asking if they want to rejoin or not. Some of your members will have learnt that online fitness works for them, or have invested in their own equipment. You can still support them remotely or online with their motivation or programming.
Last month’s article on the Future of Fitness presented a selection of membership ideas that clubs are already successfully offering. It is important to acknowledge that members will want to downgrade as well as upgrade their memberships. If you make the pathways between memberships clear, and have simple processes to transfer, you will save more members. It is better to retain members on some form of subscription than to lose them altogether.
Recovery is the First Step to Business Growth
Whether you are talking to your dormant members or trying to re-engage ex-members, you will need grit and perseverance. Do it right, and you will learn more about what your current and future members want. This in turn will enable you to position your membership offerings or subscription services for faster business recovery and ultimately, growth.
Guy Griffiths is a coach to independent gym owners, and a member retention specialist. He works with clubs on processes, systems, and strategies to improve member engagement, and therefore revenue.
His mission is to help your club to understand and engage with as many of your members as possible and get them to stick around longer.
Find out how GGFit’s independent gym owner coaching could help you at ggfit.com/gom
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